Ephriam Walters I was (B) 1744 Lancaster Co PA (D) Dec 1835 Fayette Co. PA He was 91 (M) 1770 to Mary DEBolt (B)1748 Lancaster,PA (D) 18 Dec 1842. She was 94. this Ephriam Walters was raised by the Indians. Look how old they lived back then.

INTRODUCTION

My grandfather and namesake, Sumner E. Walters, died ten years before I was born. Because of his absence, I had little sense of my Walters heritage. At about the age of twelve, hanging around my father’s law office, I discovered my grandfather’s old files, containing his efforts at genealogy. His research was primarily directed towards finding his Anderson ancestors, which were his Mother’s family. She died when he was a small child. Perhaps we seek, through genealogy, that sense of personal identity that is missing from our lives through experiences with the living. Maybe it’s simpler than that and it is only a fascination with history. In any event, I have been hooked on family history since a young age.

The genesis of this project came about after I became Common Pleas Court Judge in Van Wert County, Ohio. Through my poking around the various records in my courthouse, I discovered that the Clerk of my Court, a deputy clerk in the Municipal Court, of which my father was Judge, my Court’s Assignment Commissioner and a Psychologist that I had working part-time for my court were all “cousins” of mine. None of us knew of our family relationships. I determined that it was unfortunate that all of us had grown up unaware of our ancestry or relations outside of our immediate families. This compilation is my small effort to make all the research that I have been able to collect on the Walters family available to others.

The pages that follow are by no means complete. This represents an ongoing project of my own as well as many other Walters “cousins.” I claim little credit for the actual research that is contained herein. It represents the work of many people besides myself. While my personal interest lies in the “George Walters” line, I feel that a greater sense of family can be found by looking at the larger picture. Furthermore, I have found that the more information that I can share with others, the more that they will share with me.

Every effort has been made to report all of the research as accurately as possible; to indicate estimations of dates by the notation ca; to only list names, dates and places that are documentable. I know, that in a work of this magnitude, however, that there will be not only typographical errors, but information that differs from other sources. I have tried to indicate when I know there is differing information available. I have used conjecture and speculation in certain areas, but have always tried to indicate that those facts are either “possible” or “likely.”

I genuinely solicit information from any source, so that I may make this compilation even more complete than it currently is. I also solicit corrections, suggestions and anything else that the reader cares to share with me after using this material.

April 10, 1995 Sumner E. Walters

1273 Hickory Wood Lane

Lima, OH 45805

WALTERS FAMILY

Kaspar Walter, the earliest known American ancestor of this family, appears first in this country in 1717, when he received a patent for 200 acres of land in Leacock Twp., Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. This patent is dated August 21, 1717.

While I have found no record of his emigration, it is reasonable to believe that he was part of the Palatine emigration of 1717 to Pennsylvania. Prior to 1717, there was only sporadic German arrivals in America, most of which have been documented. In September, 1717, “Three Little Ships” arrived carrying three hundred sixty three German immigrants, originally from the Palatine region of Germany. These German Lutherans sailed from London, England, and were led by the Rev. Anthony Jacob Henckel and his son- in-law, Valentine Geiger.

A Casper Walter, age 44, together with his wife, five sons, age 21, 16, 12, 8 and 4, and four daughters, age 18, 14, 12 and 6, are included on a list of poor Palatines who arrived at St. Catherine’s, England on June 11, 1709, by ship from Rotterdam.

In the list of the Palatine Church Visitations of 1609, there are two Walters families recorded. Both of these families are located in the Parish of Cussel. There is a family of Jorg Walter, a cloth shearer, consisting of his wife, Katharina, two sons, Hans Jacob and Johannes, and two daughters, Anna and Barbara. There is also a Johannes Walter, a catch-poll, his wife Barbara and one daughter, Engel. Given the fact that at that time most German peasants were bound to the land, and there was rarely any migration by these peasants, it is possible that the Casper Walter that arrived in England in 1709 was from one of the clans that appear in the 1609 list.

A Kaspar Walter and his son, Caspar are included in the register of deaths within the Sabbatarian Congregation, known as the Ephrata Community. There is also a record of the death of an Anna Wallther, but there is no indication in the church records of her relationship to Kaspar or Casper, Jr.

This unusual religious community, located on the banks of the Cocalico River, in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, has generated much interest and speculation over the years, due to a variety of factors, including the peculiar organization of the community, its conventual form of life, the unique buildings erected for the use of the religious community, and the mystery that has always surrounded the whole establishment.

The Sabbatarian community was divided into three separate groups, which had little formal connection with each other, except for their method of baptism, and keeping the seventh day holy. The secular congregation was known in English as the “German Seventh-Day Baptist Congregation.” There was also the Brotherhood, which still exists, and the Sisterhood of the order of “Spiritual Virgins.” Kasper Walter was a member of the secular congregation.

In the wilderness that was Lancaster County in the early 1700’s, the Sabbatarians set up a printing press; only the third printing press in the colony of Pennsylvania, and the first to print with both English and German characters. Here, in their seclusion, these religious recluses wrote their mystic speculations, made their own paper, printed the sheets, and bound them into books. One of their earlier works was the largest book published in America prior to the twentieth century.

In the early days of the community, various commercial enterprises, some undertaken by the Eckerlin brothers, flourished. However, in carrying out the church’s doctrine that the accumulation of property was a sin, the Eckerlin brothers were expelled from the community, the mills were stopped and no further commercial enterprises were undertaken. After the expulsion of the Eckerlin brothers, in 1745, one of the things done to atone for the previous “sin” of commercialism, was to publicly burn all the records of the prior commercial activity. As a part of the frenzy surrounding this “cleansing,” it appears that practically all of the prior written records of the community were destroyed. Those records that survive are few and incomplete.

In the “Register” of the Ephrata Community, entry #7 is the death of Kaspar Walter in the autumn of 1734. In Cronicon Ephratense, at p. 63, it is noted that Kaspar was “a member of the original congregation, who died from grief caused by Beissel leaving the congregation.” John Conrad Beissel, “Vatter Friedsam Gottrecht,” was b. in 1690, at Eberbach, Germany, and arrived in Pennsylvania in 1720. In 1728, he founded the Ephrata Community, however, he had begun his proselytizing much earlier. He ranks high among the religious leaders of his time.

Entry # 27 records the death of Anna Wallther in 1741. It is possible that she was the widow of Kaspar, although that connection is not reported. Entry #187, dated 1777 states that “Young Caspar Walter and his wife were forgotten.” Since our Caspar had moved westward in about 1742, and was killed by the Indians in 1756, it is curious to note that if this is in fact our family, it took over twenty years for the religious community to note his departure from their ranks. This could be explained by the isolation of the Sabbatarian community and the lack of dissemination of news in those times.

Young Casper was born about 1725, probably in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania (Ratcliff says 1715 in Germany). He married Barbara Baer c.a. 1743, daughter of Michael and Elizabeth Baer, whose family farm adjoined the 1717 farm of Kaspar Walter in Leacock Twp., Lancaster Co. Michael Baer was born 1690 in Germany, married on January 15, 1713/1714 at Adelshofen, Germany to Anna Elizabeth Ott. He was the son of Hans Bar, born 1664 in Germany. Michael Baer had come to Chester County, later Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, in the early 1700’s with his brothers Samuel, Henry and Jacob Baer. He died in 1741 in Leacock Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, and the records of his estate, which was settled in 1744, give the names of his children, who were: John, his eldest son, Barbara, wife of Casper Walker, Eve, wife of Nichs. Harman, Frena, Andrew, Catherine and Margaret. Andrew, Catherine & Margaret were minors and required the appointment of a guardian. Subsequent records in the guardianship show that Margaret was deceased in 1754 and was survived by her husband Joseph Rench.

The Register of the Ephrata community, at entry #140, records the death of Brother Jacob Behr on December 13, 1768. This is possibly the brother of Michael Baer, although there is no mention of other Baers in the Register, and other information places the date of death of our Jacob Baer as December 7, 1764. Jacob Baer also owned a farm adjoining the 1717 farm of Kasper Walters.

On January 21, 1742, Casper Walter warranted 400 acres of land in Antrim Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, in the Conococheague settlement. This farm became part of Cumberland County in 1750, and the 1750 tax list for Antrim Township, Cumberland County lists Casper Walter. This farm is now located in Franklin County, Pennsylvania, near the city of Greencastle.

In 1749, Casper Walter also purchased land in Augusta County, Virginia, (now Hampshire County, West Virginia), near the city of Romney, where his son Ephraim settled in 1765.

On Sunday morning, July 8, 1756, the farm in Cumberland (now Franklin) County was attacked by a small band of Indians. Casper Walter, who had been sitting on the porch, reading his Bible, was instantly killed. His wife, Barbara, was tortured but survived. She later married, as her second husband, Henry Householder, of the same place. The three younger Walter children were murdered by the Indians, but the four eldest were spared and carried off by them. These children were: John, born 1743, Ephraim, born 1744, Mary, born 1745, and Rebecca Regina, born 1746 (others say 1736, which seems less likely, given the ages of her siblings, and family accounts placing her at ten years of age when carried off by indians).

The story of this raid, as reported by Eber Cockley in the May 1967 issue of the Laurel Messenger reports that John was playing with a neighbor boy of the name of Galloday, who escaped the attack, running to Kesecker’s Mill, from which point an alarm was sent out to Fort Allison, about one quarter mile away. Rev. John Steele was conducting services at the fort, which were terminated and a party of men left, joining Capt. Potter at Kesecker’s Mill. This happened so quickly that the party arrived at the Walters home soon enough to prevent the scalping of Casper. The dead were buried in a nearby cleared meadow.

While in captivity, these children were taken through much of what is now Ohio and Western Pennsylvania. It is said that these children witnessed the fall of Fort Duquesne. Rebecca was returned by the Moravian Christian Frederick Post in 1762, Mary returned later in 1762, and Ephraim was liberated by Col. Henry Bouquet in November 1764, as reported by the Pennsylvania Gazette of January 17, 1765. Widow, Barbara Baer Walter, appeared at Lancaster in 1762 to claim her daughter, Rebecca. John was apparently returned at the same time as Ephraim. Over three hundred whites were turned over to Col. Bouquet in the Ohio country from the Delaware, Shawnee and Seneca Indians between October 19 and Bouquet’s return to Fort Pitt on November 28, 1764.

In a letter dated July 1, 1763, Col. Bouquet, writing at Carlisle, to Governor Hamilton named a chain of fort locations to be established which included Shippensburg, Chambersburg, McDowell’s Mill and next thereto Fort Maxwell “near Casper Walter’s Mill in the Conococheague settlement.”

There is a family legend that Ephraim was adopted by a Shawnee Indian Chief by the name of Yougashaw, to replace a son who had been killed. This is historically possible, as the Indians that were harassing the Western Pennsylvania frontier at that time were primarily Delaware and Shawnee. When whites were captured, they were divided up among the tribes that had participated in their capture, and they were then “adopted” into Indian families. The fact that Rebecca and Mary were returned by Post, would indicate that they were captives of the Delaware, since he was the missionary who had Christianized a large part of the Delaware nation. It is therefore not unlikely that Ephraim was a captive of the Shawnee.

Rebecca Regina Walters married Casper Statler, b. August 18, 1743, d. February 20, 1826, and settled in Shade Township, Somerset County, Pennsylvania. Rebecca died February 20, 1826. Rebecca and Casper Statler had at least one daughter, Mary, b. 1768, d. February 14, 1852, m. 1792 to John Lambert (1761-1844).

Mary returned to Cumberland County, and Rebecca married Casper Statler and settled in Shade Township, Somerset County, Pennsylvania. John went to Fayette County, Pennsylvania.

Ephraim Walters, upon his return from captivity, settled his father’s estate, which was described as a 254 acre plantation and grist mill. He then moved to Augusta County, Virginia (now Hampshire County, West Virginia), to farm his land on Patterson’s Creek.

In about 1769, Ephraim Walters married Mary DeBolt, daughter of Michael and Elizabeth DeBolt. According to Ella Doggett, the DeBolts were French Huguenots who had immigrated to this country in 1739. A more likely story, reported by Richard Pangborn in INDIAN BLOOD, is that Michael DeBolt was the son of Mary Chartier Seaworth and John Burt (DeBurt, Dubert, Dibert, DeBolt). John Burt was a white trader among the Indians, and had a large trading house on the Susquehanna River above Conestoga. Mary Chartier Seaworth was the daughter of Martin Chartier, and his fullblood Shawnee Indian wife. Martin Chartier was one of the very earliest white traders among the Indians of Pennsylvania, Virginia and parts west. Mary Chartier Seaworth was also the sister of Peter Chartier, a chief of the Shawnee Indians who is known for his attempts to reform the trade between the Indians and the whites. In either event, Michael and Elizabeth DeBolt had settled in the same area of Virginia, as did Ephraim Walters. They later moved to Fayette County, Pennsylvania and became the ancestors of a large family.

Ephraim and Mary Walters sold their farm in (West) Virginia on November 14, 1769 to John Jones. From this home, they apparently moved to another location prior to the move to Fayette County, Pennsylvania. Their oldest son, George Walters was born November 17, 1770, in Augusta County, Virginia. It is reported that Ephraim Walters, along with Christian Widman and perhaps others, were engaged in claiming land by "tomahawk improvements" in Fayette County, Pennsylvania as early as 1770.

Ephraim and Mary Walters eventually removed to Fayette County Pennsylvania. Ephraim and his brother John warranted land there in 1773; John in German Township and Ephraim in Georges Township. Ephraim was apparently dissatisfied with his land, for shortly thereafter, he purchased another tract, near his brother’s, in German Township, where he died.

John Walters served in the Sandusky Expedition in 1782, under the command of Col. Crawford who was burnt at the stake during this operation, as was Lt. Col. John McClelland of Westmoreland County (see Aaron Walters - 9.). John Walters enlisted from Fayette County, Pennsylvania. This expedition was manned by four hundred eighty men, made up entirely of Western Pennsylvania volunteers, with the exception of Colonels Crawford and Williamson, who were Regular Army from Fort Pitt.

After the rout of this army by the Indians, including the death of nearly half of the contingent, and the burning of its commander, Col. Crawford at the stake, many of the men simply fled on foot, never to have been heard from again. No later record of John Walters has been found, but family legend states that he returned to the Indians, being dissatisfied with the ways of the White Men.

On February 2, 1787, Ephraim Walters, “heir at law” to the estate of John Walters, deceased, sold his brother’s farm to Melchoir Baker of German Township. John Walters therefore was legally dead without issue.

There is another family legend, however, that I have been unable to confirm historically or otherwise, that John Walters, after returning to live among the Indians married an Indian girl “of strong Christian character.” He is further said to have had five sons by this marriage, and that later, when the father married a white woman, the sons left home due to dislike of the step-mother.

Mary DeBolt Walters was a pioneer nurse, doctor and midwife among both the Whites and Indians in what is now the Fayette County area. Some members of the family used to speak of how she would ride a pony to see her patients and always took the most direct route, often having to jump small fences along the way.

Ephraim Walters led the life of a true pioneer. He had to clear his farm by hand and combat the dangers of the wilderness. May Walters, daughter of Allen Sangston (4.4.6) and Melinda (Galley) Walters, described his life in a high school composition she wrote in the late 1890’s, based on information given to her by her grandfather, Ephraim Walters III:

“The whites had a good many fights with the Indians. At one time there were about 25 men fighting 200 Indians but the gun powder was too much for their bows and arrows. Mr. Walters had become so used to Indian life that he would not work, but preferred to hunt. He did not like things cooked in pots or fried in skillets, and when he got any game he took clay mud and made a thick cover around the game, then he would put the ball in hot ashes and cover it up and leave it there for about two hours. When he took this ball out of the ashes and broke the clay off, feathers or hair and skin would peel off nicely with the clay and the meat; a rich morsel he would enjoy most hugely. Later in life he married and bought a farm down in S. W. Penn. He built a large log house with a never failing spring of water in the cellar so they would not have to go out being afraid of the Indians especially after night. It was an odd looking house with only two out side doors, one above the other, and loop holes or places to shoot out of.

On May 15, 1774, Ephraim Walters was elected Captain by a company of early settlers in Western Pennsylvania who chased Tories and Indians along the Cheat and Monongahela Rivers in Fayette and Greene Counties, Pennsylvania. They also formed a company during the Revolutionary War, protecting the frontiers. He served in Capt. Bazil Bowell’s 1793 Fayette County Militia, as an Indian scout guarding the frontiers. May Walters also wrote that he taught the whites how to fight the Indians, as he knew all of their tactics. He would put his ear to the ground to detect their approaches. Ephraim Walters’ application for a pension as a Revolutionary War Veteran, dated October 16, 1834, was, however, disallowed for failure to furnish proof of his service as required by law.

Ephraim Walters was appointed Justice of the Peace in German Township on November 21, 1786, by Gov. Charles Biddle, and served as such for seven years.

Early records indicate the Ephraim Walters was one of the last men in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to own black slaves, keeping them perhaps until the time of his death in 1835.

Ephraim Walters was a member of the “German Meeting House” church, now known as Jacob’s Lutheran Church, near Masontown, Pennsylvania. He probably first united with the church shortly after his arrival in Fayette County, as it was the only German church in the area at that time. This church is the oldest Lutheran Church in America west of the Allegheny Mountains. It was officially established as a Lutheran Church in 1773, although the first burial there took place in the winter of 1765. Most of the early settlers of what is now German Township worshipped and are buried there, including members of the DeBolt, Baer, Baker, Balsinger, Bowman, Crow, Deffenbaugh, Derr, Everly, Fast, Franks, Furst, Halfhill, Mason, Newcomer, Overturf, Poundstone, Riffel, Schnatterly, Walters and Yaeger families.

In accordance with his will, Ephraim Walters lies buried at this church in the oldest section of the cemetery. There are two tombstones bearing his name, one of them being the original and the other (with wrong dates) which was erected by his grandchildren long after his death. The original reads:

In

Memory

of

EPHRAIM WALTERS

who departed this life

Dec. 8th, A D 1835 aged 91

years

Blessed are the dead that die in

the LORD for they rest from their

labour and their works do follow

them.

Rev: 13 & 14

Mary DeBolt Walters, wife of Ephraim Walters, died at the home of their daughter, Mary (Polly) Walters Hyde, in Greene County Pennsylvania on December 18, 1842, aged 94 years. She is buried at Jacob’s Lutheran Church beside her husband.

Ephraim Walters and Mary DeBolt Walters raised a family consisting of ten children, seven sons and three daughters. In the early 1800’s, four of these sons: George, John, Andrew and Henry, left Fayette County, Pennsylvania, and went westward, settling in Ohio. Descendants of these Ohio Walters brothers say that they went to Ohio upon the advice of their father who had seen the land, known as “Black Fork Country,” while he was with the Indians and had determined it to be the best farmland available for settlement. The other three sons remained in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, on farms provided for them in their father’s will. One daughter, Elizabeth (Betsey), stayed in Fayette County, one daughter, Mary (Polly), went across the Monongahela River to Greene County, Pennsylvania, and one daughter, Charity, settled near Pittsburgh, in Beaver County, Pennsylvania.

In his will, Ephraim Walters divided his home farm between his sons, Ephraim and Aaron Walters whose descendants lived on it for many years. These two sons became founding members of Fairview Church of the Brethren in Nicholson Township, which was, in fact, built on Ephraim Walters Jr.’s half of the original Ephraim Walters, Sr. farm. Another farm in German Township was willed to Ephraim’s son Jacob.

The children of Ephraim Walters and Mary DeBolt are as follows:

1. George b. November 17, 1770, Augusta County, Virginia

2. Elizabeth b. December 14, 1772, Fayette County, Pennsylvania

3. John b. September 22, 1774,Fayette County, Pennsylvania

4. Ephraim b. May 27, 1776, Fayette County, Pennsylvania

5. Andrew b. 1778, Fayette County, Pennsylvania

6. Jacob b. March 6, 1780, Fayette County, Pennsylvania

7. Henry b. ca 1782, Fayette County, Pennsylvania

8. Mary b. December, 1783, Fayette County, Pennsylvania

9. Aaron b. July 1, 1788, Fayette County, Pennsylvania

10. Charity DeBolt b. October, 1793, Fayette County, Pennsylvania

Mention should also be made here of Samuel and Levi Walters, whose names appear in the Bible of Ephraim Walters. Their placement would make them the children of Ephraim Walters and Mary DeBolt, although they are not actually named as such. No further record of them has been found, and if in fact they were their children, it is reasonable to assume that they died young and without issue.

born16 Nov, 1848 and died 23 June 1921 Married Aug 8 1873 to Sarah Elizabeth Purman born 10 Nov 1853 in Lima Ohio and died 6 July 19137 at Updegraph,Iowa now Colesburg road.Brown Cemetery cause of death "cerebral Hemorrhage. daug of Peter Burns Purman I and Nancy Ann Woods

Alexander C Walters's death certificate states death as "cancer of lower bowel-Contributory Obstruction

Fifth child of Aaron Walters & Melinda Cooper James Morgan Walters born 22 Jan. 1855 and died 28 March 1887 lung fever. (M) Francis White and had son Harry Walters lived in Grey Bull Wy. in year 1908 age 23.

Sixth child of Aaron & Melinda Cooper Walters born 22, Feb 1859 died 7 July 1938 .First wife was Mary Keen died 9 Jan 1884. then he married Ida M Platt born 1868 & died 1 March 1931. They (DIV) but had Gilbert, 1894 he died 26 Sept 1951. Eva Walters Schnack born 2 Aug 1900 died 3 June 1963, Anna Walters FileldsChicago ,Il area. looks like maybe they had a son Arthur Walters? Gilbert and T.J are buried at Mt Harmony Cemetery Garber,Iowa

Seventh child left is Martha Walters Bowman and Eva Hyde Walters Gordon's wife. After 12 children they divorced. Below is her husband John Gordon. Called Gord or J G .

Where Gordon Walters worked in Chicago,IL before 1900.

Eight child Gordon Walters Died 7 June 1948 Married 10 July 1898 to

Eva Hyde Walters born 30 April 1881 died 29 Dec 1949. Parents of 12 children see there web site.